Firm: S. Calif. August home sales drop 14 percent

LOS ANGELES 
Home sales in Southern California fell 13.8 percent last month to mark the slowest August in three years, as the weak job market and a lost sense of urgency among shoppers curbed activity, a tracking firm said Tuesday.

San Diego-based MDA DataQuick said 18,541 homes sold in the six-county region last month, compared with 21,502 in August 2009. Sales reached the lowest level for the month of August since 2007, but the decline was not as severe as the 20.6 percent year-over-year drop in July.

August's sales were also down 2.1 percent from 18,946 in July.

DataQuick President John Walsh said the loss of a federal tax credit for many homebuyers was largely to blame for weak sales over the past two months, as were job security fears among prospective buyers.

"For many out home shopping now, there's little beyond ultra-low mortgage rates to pressure them to buy sooner rather than later," Walsh said.

DataQuick also said the median home price in Southern California of $288,000 rose only 4.7 percent last month from $275,000 in August 2009, its slimmest gain in the string of year-to-year increases that began in December.

Last month's median also fell 2.4 percent from $295,000 in July, its third consecutive month-to-month drop.

Foreclosures comprised 34.7 percent of resales last month, up from 34.2 percent in July but down from 41.7 percent a year ago.